East Side Story by Louis Auchincloss Read Free Book Online Page A

capitals, a style disastrously borrowed from Bavarian baroque. Bruce, spreading his hands to indicate to the approaching footman that he had nothing to remove, proceeded up the curving marble stairwell, reminding himself of what his bar friend Abel Fisher had said of his host's indifference to interior design.
    The family and a few guests were somewhat dourly gathered in a rigidly correct French eighteenth-century parlor with Fragonard panels that portrayed a life of swings and kisses and gaiety that Mr. Benson, a portly, silent tower of crusty self-assurance, would never have tolerated in his home. Everyone nodded discreetly at Bruce as his host, one firm hand gripping his elbow, took him about the chamber; Kitty, standing somehow independently by the fireplace, simply smiled at him. The Benson children, unlike their progenitor, were on the short side, with square bland faces and small staring eyes; they bore an almost comic resemblance to each other. Yet they were somehow obviously decent folk. They even made Bruce feel that it might be superficial of him to miss the charm that was lacking. But miss it he did.
    The gentlemen outnumbered the ladies in the dining room, and Bruce, who had a largely silent man on his left, held an uninterrupted discourse with his other neighbor, Ada Benson, who was Kitty's particular friend in the household. She was the shortest and smallest and plainest of the tribe, but she was also sensible, definite, and very articulate. She was clearly devoted to Kitty, and she merely nodded, without smiling, when he described the bore insurance company as an example of her wit. But then she added this comment:
    "I daresay you'd get a fat check in the morning for having been stuck with me." Her tone was not rueful, but simply dry, and she pressed on, ignoring his flurried protestation. "But Kitty is actually much kinder than that idea of hers might make you think. We had some Western cousins here last week who would have fitted into Kitty's despised category, but you can't imagine how nice and helpful she was with them. Mummy calls her an artist in making people feel at home and bringing out the best in them."
    Bruce wondered immediately if that was what Kitty did with him. And he worried that Miss Benson might think him superficial for having primarily noted a sharper side of her friend's nature. But he soon discovered that he need have no such concern. Ada did not bother to make judgments in matters that to her had little significance, and now she proceeded, obviously briefed on his trade by Kitty, to ask him about the thread business.
    "We buy from the Scots," he explained, "and we sell to the Jews, and on the slim profit that such a deal allows us, we endeavor to subsist."
    This evoked Miss Benson's first smile. It was a small one. "Kitty said you had a sense of humor. And that despite your strict Presbyterian background."
    "I'm afraid I've a good deal lapsed from that strictness. Does Kitty object to Presbyterians?"
    "Oh, no, I don't think she objects to any religion."
    "Isn't that apt to mean one doesn't care for any?"
    "It's hard to tell what Kitty really cares about. She's very tolerant and very deep. But she's good."
    "And that's all that really matters, is it?"
    Ada's hint of a frown seemed to debate whether his tone was sarcastic or sincere. "Is it to you, Mr. Carnochan?"
    "It is."
    At that moment he was imagining what it would be like to be in bed with Ada Benson. The man who had married her for her money would now have to earn it. Could he do it? Well, why not, with the aid of fantasies of his own? He recalled his first college visit to what he liked to call a
mauvais lieu
and how he had barely managed to overcome his shyness and disgust. Yet he had! Oh, yes, he had! Mating was no great shakes. He visualized Ada slipping out of her nightie and revealing her small breasts and rounded tummy and considerable rear end. He supposed her less shy than passive, supinely offering what she had to offer